Wawa Teams With American Red Cross

Wawa Teams With American Red Cross

12/20/2004

WAWA, Pa. -- Wawa Inc. just completed its third blood drive this year, collecting over 673 pints of blood from 21 company drives in five states.

This brings the total number of pints collected from all of Wawa's 2004 blood drives to 1,621, exceeding the company's goal of 1,000 pints of blood by over 60 percent. The blood was donated by both associates and customers at local blood drives held throughout Wawa's operating area.

Responding to a national blood crisis, Wawa held blood drives at its corporate and dairy facilities for over two decades. Most recently in 2002, Wawa collected 400 pints. In 2003, using a new model of company-wide blood drive collections, Wawa increased its collection to 700 pints. This year's record of 1,621 is the pride of the company's 15,000 employees. Wawa staff set up multi-site collections three times this year throughout Wawa's area to receive donations from associates and customers alike.

Harry McHugh, senior vice president of store operations, said "Wawa has a strong tradition of responding to the needs of a community in times of crisis, and the American Red Cross Blood Service is constantly facing such a crisis. It was vital for us to step forward and do our part to address the blood shortage emergency."